The present invention relates to security systems having an alarm control panel that communicates with a remote recovery arrangement to recover data in the event of a complete loss of power to the system.
Security alarm systems typically include an alarm control panel which reports, among other functions, to a central monitoring station. The most common communication method is to use conventional telephone communication. The security system for protecting a particular premise or area has a control panel which receives signals from a series of sensors which monitor and identify changes in conditions in the monitored area. Based on the output signals of the sensors, alarm conditions are identified and reported to the central monitoring station.
Security systems typically include a battery backup power source that maintains the security system for a period of time in the event of a power outage. Unfortunately, the power backup is only designed to maintain the system for a certain period of time and eventually the system will cease to operate.
The battery backup power source maintains the information stored in volatile memory of the alarm control panel such that information entered to customize the security system for a particular application is maintained. The alarm control panel typically includes non-volatile memory which is unaffected by power outages. In contrast, when power completely fails to volatile memory, the information contained in the memory is lost. Volatile memory contains system parameters which are entered by the system installer or the end user and allow the system to be customized for the particular application. To overcome certain difficulties, the volatile system parameters are programmed with a default value at the time of manufacture and these values are then adjusted by the installer or end user to suit the specific needs of the customer or installation site. The system, when re-powered after complete failure of power, uses these default values and as such substantial information is lost.
If the default values are used, essentially the alarm system must be reprogrammed to restore the original settings and information. In any case, this reprogramming requires an installer to return to the site. It can also be appreciated that complete power failure can occur due to a number of different factors. For example, complete power failure occurs when there is a power outage followed by a time duration longer than the life of the backup power source. A further situation could include the inadvertent interruption of power to the system by an installer or the end user for an extended period of time. Both of these situations cause serious inconvenience and require the custom information to be entered into the system.
Perhaps the most critical information stored in the volatile memory is the system time and date information. The time and date is used in combination with other features of the alarm system including scheduling of devices and dating of alarm events which are subsequently reported to the monitoring station. This date and time information can be particularly helpful in analysing alarm events as well as medical emergencies. Some systems report on system activities such as arming and disarming, and the users of the system. As previously described, the control panel often maintains in volatile memory a schedule for programming various features of the alarm system. For example, the schedule could be associated with a timing sequence for turning on various devices associated with the security system. The schedule could be associated authorizing in predetermined time periods certain users allowing these users deactivate the system or to have automatic activation of the system at particular times. Typically, the more sophisticated or customized the alarm system, the more vulnerable the system is to loss of information due to complete power failure.
The present invention seeks to mitigate many of the problems described above.
A security system according to the present invention has a control panel for controlling and communicating with a plurality of sensors and evaluating signals therefrom to determine whether an alarm event has occurred. The control panel includes a telephone out-dial arrangement for reporting alarm events to a remote monitoring station and the panel includes volatile and non-volatile memory for storing system information. A date and time arrangement is associated with the control panel to date stamp any alarm events. The control panel, upon determining an alarm event has occurred, associates the alarm event with a date and time provided by the date and time arrangement and reports the information to the remote monitoring station. The control panel includes a battery backup for temporarily powering the system and maintaining date and time arrangement in the event of a power disruption. The control panel further includes process logic, which in the event of a loss of the date and time information, causes the processing logic to use the out-dial arrangement to complete a communication with the remote monitoring station and receive therefrom date and time information.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the control panel, when in communication with a remote monitoring station receives current date and time information which is compared to the date and time information of the panel and in the event of a discrepancy, the control panel uses the current date and time information.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, the current date and time information is provided to the control panel as part of a handshake protocol with the remote monitoring station.
In yet a further aspect of the invention, the control panel additionally initiates contact with the remote monitoring station to update the date and time information at predetermined intervals maintained in non-volatile memory.